Background: The features of pancreatic parenchyma that tend to progress towards pancreatic cancer (PC) are unknown. We performed volumetry of the pancreas in PC patients using computed tomography (CT) scans acquired before detection of PC, and investigated whether CT findings of pancreatic parenchyma could predict the future occurrence of PC.
Methods: Between April 2009 and March 2017, a total of 3769 patients underwent abdominal contrast-enhanced CT, the scans of which were archived as digital images. Among them, 15 PC patients underwent abdominal CT 6-120 months before diagnosis of PC. This retrospective study compared the 15 PC patients (PC group) with 15 propensity score-matched subjects without PC (non-PC group). Pancreatic volumetry and radiological findings were compared between the two groups.
Results: There were significant differences between the PC and non-PC groups in the volume of the main pancreatic duct (MPD) plus any cystic lesion (P = 0.007), volume of the MPD plus any cystic lesion/body surface area (BSA; P = 0.009), MPD diameter (P = 0.011), and MPD diameter/BSA (P = 0.013). Univariate analysis revealed volume of MPD plus any cystic lesion/BSA ≥ 0.53 mL/m2 (odds ratio [OR] 38.50, P = 0.002), volume of pancreatic parenchyma/BSA < 27.0 mL/m2 (OR 12.25, P = 0.030), and MPD diameter/BSA ≥ 1.0 mm/m2 (OR 13.00, P = 0.006) as significant risk factors for PC.
Conclusions: Quantification of the volume of MPD plus any cystic lesion/BSA, volume of pancreatic parenchyma/BSA, and MPD diameter/BSA on pre-diagnosis CT were useful for predicting the future occurrence of PC.
Keywords: Atrophy; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic volume; Volumetry.